The transcriptional regulation of lymphocyte and dendritic cell development

不同类型的血细胞，如红细胞和白色血细胞，是由骨髓中一种罕见的干细胞产生的。干细胞的一个重要特征是其平衡增殖和产生不同细胞类型（称为分化）的需要和维持足够数量的干细胞处于其原始状态（称为自我更新）的需要的能力。这种平衡的结果是在整个生命过程中产生了惊人数量的细胞，这些细胞需要补充每天失去的细胞。这一壮举是由少数重要的主调控基因控制的，这些基因在一个层次中起作用，以促进分化过程。这种严格控制和多步骤的调节是必不可少的，因为不能协调血细胞的产生是许多血细胞癌症的根本原因，如白血病以及免疫缺陷和贫血。这项研究的目的是了解这些主调节器是如何单独发挥作用的，以及如何共同产生白色血细胞，这些血细胞是我们对微生物、疫苗接种和预防癌症的免疫反应所必需的。

The distinct cell types of the blood, such as red and white blood cells, are produced in the bone marrow from a rare stem cell. An important characteristic of the stem cell is its ability to balance the need to proliferate and produce the distinct cell types (termed differentiation) and the need to maintain an adequate number of stem cells in their primitive state (termed self-renewal). The outcome of this balance is the production, throughout life, of an astounding number of cells that are required to replace those lost each day. This feat is controlled by a handful of important master-regulatory genes that act in a hierarchy to promote the differentiation process. This tightly controlled and multi-step regulation is essential, as failure to coordinate blood cell production is the underlying cause of many blood cell cancers such as leukaemia as well as immune deficiency and anaemia. This research aims to understand how these master-regulators function in isolation and together in producing the white blood cells that are required for our immune response to microbes, vaccination and to prevent cancer.